‘Luigi’s Mansion 3’ adds more multiplayer minigames with new DLC
Last year Nintendo promised a two-part release of extra content for Luigi’s Mansion 3, all scheduled to arrive before July 31st. Part one of the $10 DLC pack went on sale in early March, and now Part 2 is here.
Both halves of the DLC add three additional competitive ScreamPark minigames, and three new themes for its four-player co-op mode, as well as new ghosts and costumes. Nick Summers didn’t find the game lacking for content when he reviewed it last fall, but if you’re tired of playing the same things over and over it should put a little more life into the game for those times when you need an Animal Crossing: New Horizons break.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/luigi-mansion-3-multiplayer-minigames-dlc-081505181.html
Epic Games Store gets local pricing in five more countries
You can now pay for Epic Games Store purchases in your own currency if you’re in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The developer’s digital storefront now supports AUD, CAD, DKK, NOK and SEK, bringing the total number of currencies it accepts to 15. That means you no longer have to worry about potentially huge price differences due to conversion fluctuations anymore. And, as PC Gamer notes, prices on the store now match Steam’s.
Epic Games has also recently rolled out a feature allowing users to throttle their download speeds, which you can enable by going to the launcher settings menu. It’s probably a welcome update for a lot of people, seeing as whole households are staying at home and using the internet all day due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/epic-games-store-new-currencies-152049023.html
The Morning After: Facebook.com is about to show off a new look
Whether you’re in an office or at home, there’s a decent chance you’ve been wasting time on Facebook.com. After going years without a major redesign, the company is rolling out a rebuilt page with a new look, so Nick Summers talked to engineers about the timing and what’s new. If you haven’t deleted your account already, then it’s worth getting familiar with the new site now, before it pops up in one of your browser tabs.
-- Richard
Tesla delays the Semi to 2021
That wasn’t all.
There was good news in Tesla’s earnings call Wednesday -- the company turned a profit again in its most recent quarter. The bad news is that its Semi hauler is delayed again. Originally unveiled in 2017 with a planned launch in 2019, it’s now on the release schedule for 2021.
On a call to discuss the results, Elon Musk also said that the company’s “Full Self Driving” upgrade will become available later this year as a monthly subscription service. Also delayed: planned self-driving Tesla robo-taxis -- those should arrive in some markets next year. And there was also a rant about COVID-19-caused stay-at-home orders that Musk called “fascist.”
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Microsoft Office for iPad tests multi-window support in Word, Powerpoint
Time to get to work.
If you plan to use an iPad to get work done, then multitasking across documents and apps is likely a major concern. iPadOS 13 upgraded Split View multitasking to support more than one window of the same app, and now Microsoft is beta testing the feature for use in Word and Powerpoint. Those in the Office Insider program can try it out now, but there’s no word yet on when the feature will be available for everyone.
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Apple makes it easier to skip Face ID if you’re wearing a mask
Unfortunately the feature is only in beta.
The new reality of a life with face masks is here, and Apple is adjusting Face ID on iPhones to reflect that. In beta software launched yesterday, Apple lets users swipe up to enter a passcode and skip the delay that usually occurs using Face ID. Some users are saying that if the phone detects a mask, it will automatically jump to the passcode screen.
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Lyft lays off nearly 1,000 employees
The layoffs account for 17 percent of its workforce.
Lyft is laying off 982 employees, 17 percent of its workforce, CNBC reports. It is also furloughing another 288 workers. Layoffs are becoming increasingly common due to COVID-19, and ridesharing has been particularly hard-hit. With more people staying home, services have seen demand drop precipitously. To buffer the effects, the company plans to reduce the base salary for remaining employees for a 12-week period, with executives taking a 30 percent pay cut. Vice presidents will see a 20 percent cut, and Lyft will reduce pay by 10 percent for all other exempt employees.
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Article source: https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-tesla-facebook-office-for-ipad-111548760.html
Twitter sees record user growth, thanks to COVID-19
Twitter is reporting a record increase in its daily user figures as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic of 24 percent, up to 166 million. That’s a big jump on the 134 million it was counting at the start of 2019 and the 152 million monetizable daily users in the last quarter. But, Twitter says, that usage has now stabilized as “many people around the world settled into new routines.”
Unfortunately, Twitter’s profitability is mostly reliant on advertising, and what the pandemic giveth, it’s also taketh-ing away. Despite the spike in user growth, COVID-19 has forced many companies to tighten their belts, with Twitter’s revenue feeling the pain. Consequently, the company ate a (small) loss of $7 million, compared to the profit-bounty it saw in the same period last year.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/twitter-q1-2020-112603005.html
Xbox Game Pass clears 10 million subscribers
PlayStation Now, for comparison, hit 1 million subscribers last October. Unlike Xbox Game Pass, the service leans heavily on video game streaming. PlayStation 4 owners can play PS4 and PS2 games natively, however PS3 titles have to be streamed over a Sony-controlled server. And if you’re on PC, you can only access the PlayStation Now catalog via streaming. Xbox Game Pass, meanwhile, is a more flexible and appealing option for people with lackluster internet connections. Everything in Microsoft's catalog is available to download and the company's xCloud streaming service will eventually be free for Game Pass subscribers.
We saw record engagement in gaming this quarter:
• Xbox Live has nearly 90 million monthly active users
• Xbox Game Pass has more than 10 million subscribers
• Project xCloud has 100s of thousands of active users in preview across 7 countries, with more coming— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) April 29, 2020
Speaking of xCloud: Microsoft has announced that the service, currently in preview (i.e. an early beta) has "hundreds of thousands of active users" across seven countries. Xbox Live Gold, which is necessary to play console titles online, has also reached "nearly 90 million monthly active users," according to Frank Shaw, lead communications for Microsoft.
At least some of Game Pass' success can be attributed to its aggressive content strategy. Every first-party Xbox title, including Ori and the Will of the Wisps, is added to Game Pass on the same day it hits store shelves. That makes the service a no-brainer for many: if you were going to pay $60 for Gears 5 anyway, why not pay for a Games Pass subscription instead? Sony, meanwhile, is far more guarded with its first-party offerings, no doubt because most sell exceptionally well on the PSN store. The company changed its approach last year with a rotating lineup of PS4 heavyweights, including Horizon Zero Dawn and Insomniac's Spider-Man, but there's still a gap between a game's release on the high street and PlayStation Now.
Update 4/30/20 9:00AM ET: Added statistics shared by Xbox chief Phil Spencer in a blog post.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/xbox-game-pass-10-million-subscribers-114529988.html
HTC’s Vive Sync beta offers businesses free access to VR meetings
Vive Sync meetings can support up to 30 participants per session and can access files users need from OneDrive. Participants can, for instance, present PowerPoints, PDFs, marketing videos and 3D models in their virtual meeting space. They can also record notes, annotate them with a 3D pen and take screenshots. Those notes and screenshots are instantly uploaded to participants’ cloud services, making them easy to access on phones and computers.
In its announcement, HTC says it’s just getting started with Vive Sync and plans to implement more features “quickly.” Those plans include making Vive Sync compatible with non-Vive headsets to give more people access, as well as giving it the ability to record full meeting sessions.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/htc-vive-sync-beta-free-vr-meetings-120125825.html
Intel’s flagship 10th-gen desktop CPU has 10 cores, reaches 5.3GHz
Keeping with the speed theme, Intel is giving enthusiasts even more ways to overclock. There's a redesigned Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, which gives you more control over voltage and frequency. It'll also let you turn off hyperthreading on individual cores — which might seem counter-intuitive at first, but Intel explains it’s a useful way to reduce heat, every overclocker's worst enemy.
The new processors also feature a thinner die along with a thicker copper IHS (integrated heat spreader), which should also help keep things cooler. That's a smart move, since all of Intel's new chips still have higher TDPs (thermal design profiles) than AMD's. The 10900K has a 125-watt TDP, for example, while AMD's Ryzen 9 3900X's is just 105-watts. (It’s worth noting that TDP is quite a fluid term, though, so we won’t know what that 125-watt number translates to in real-world use until we can test a chip for ourselves.)
You can expect to see the unlocked “K” CPUs in May, but we don’t have a timeline for the other chips. Based on the specs alone, the Intel 10th-gen desktop processors seem like a solid upgrade for anyone with a 3-year old PC. Still, AMD now has the advantage when it comes to core count and architecture efficiency. Maybe next year we’ll finally see Intel’s desktop CPUs on 10nm, but by then AMD will have an even more refined process. Given just how many waves AMD has been making over the last year, Intel will really have to do something special to stand out in 2021.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/intel-10th-gen-s-series-desktop-cpu-10900k-130000913.html
LinkedIn has an AI to help make you better at job interviews
That’s all fine and well, but doing a video interview (or a live one for that matter) is a skill that requires practice. To that end, LinkedIn has also unveiled AI-powered instant feedback that goes along with its interview preparation tool. Once you’ve practiced your responses to questions, you can record them and get an assessment of your delivery “with feedback on pacing, how many times you’re using filler words, and sensitive phrases to avoid,” according to LinkedIn.
That could help save you from any potential faux pas moments, while giving you valuable practice feedback — at least, as valuable as a machine can be. Interview preparation feedback is now rolling out globally and can be accessed “immediately after you apply for jobs on the LinkedIn jobs home page,” the company said.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/linkedin-ai-interview-feedback-130039759.html
Motorola Edge Plus review: It’s… fine?
Speaking of Verizon (which owns Engadget but has no editorial control over us), the Edge Plus supports the carrier's mmWave 5G network. Technically, the phone also plays nice with sub-6 5G networks, too, but since the phone is exclusive to Verizon in the US, that's kind of a moot point. Here's the thing about Verizon's 5G, though: Most people won't find it particularly compelling, at least not right now. I'm not talking about the fact that the carrier's mmWave footprint is minuscule right now, though it is. (I'm not holding my breath to see it in my corner of Brooklyn anytime soon.)
Perhaps the more notable limitation is that, even with the right phone and the right node around you, you can’t experience the full breadth of what mmWave 5G can offer while indoors. Those limitations will eventually fade as Verizon continues to build out its network's reach, but considering everything going on right now, it's unclear how or when that work will continue. I've reached out to Verizon for comment and will update this review if they respond.
By far, the most reliable thing about the Edge Plus is its whopper of a 5,000mAh battery. These giant cells are growing more common by the week, and even though we're all hunkering down a few feet from a wall outlet, the thrill of breezing through a day and then some on a single charge never really goes away. I typically unplugged the phone between 8 and 9AM, and even with lots of YouTube videos, Telegram calls, email triaging and Call of Duty matches, the Edge Plus always lasted through the night. More often than not, there'd still be enough left in the tank to make it to noon the following day.
On weekends, when I spent a lot less of my time on those things — except for maybe Call of Duty — I could get close to two days of use before recharging the phone. The caveat is that the Edge Plus only supports 15W fast charging, which isn't quite as fast as other phones, but the upside is you won't need to charge everyday anyway. For all its quirks, I'd be tempted to buy an Edge Plus for its battery life alone.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/motorola-edge-plus-review-endless-edge-screen-5g-130039462.html
USB 4 will fully support DisplayPort 2, including 8K HDR monitors
According to Anandtech, Alt Mode 2.0 will support regular USB 4 cables. At the same time, monitors won’t need to have USB 4 controllers, which should simplify display designs. Since it also supports the Thunderbolt 3 standard, USB 4 will become a universal connection standard for both smartphones and PCs, supporting things like “docking, gaming, AR/VR HMDs, and professional HDR displays,” VESA said.
Article source: https://www.engadget.com/usb-4-displayport2-8k-hdr-133040492.html